Prosecutors believe that Amber Waterman murdered Ashley Bush while driving from Arkansas to Missouri. An autopsy indicated that Bush died as a result of penetrating trauma of the torso and her death was classified as a homicide.
A Missouri woman accused of killing a pregnant mother-of-three and her unborn child pled guilty in federal court this week.
Amber Waterman, 44, entered a guilty plea to one count of kidnapping resulting in death and one count of thereby causing the death of a child in utero in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Waterman was charged in federal court because she abducted Bush in Arkansas and then traveled to her home in Missouri.
Those charges stem from the deaths of Ashley Bush, 33, and the unborn child she was eight months pregnant with at the time, Valkyrie Willis.
Waterman admitted in court that she initially established contact with Bush on Facebook using a false name. She then pretended to have a job opportunity for Bush which she agreed to discuss in person during a meeting on Oct. 28, 2022, according to a cousin of the victim.
Lainey Blackburn told Inside Edition Digital in an interview shortly after Bush's death that her cousin had a difficult pregnancy after being diagnosed with gestational hypertension and was trying to find a job she could perform from home because she was the main earner in the household she shared with her fiancé and children.
"She went online to find a work-from-home job. She was going to do whatever she had to do to find a job," Blackburn said.
Bush then agreed to a second in-person meeting three days later on Oct. 31 after being told that Waterman would be taking her to meet a supervisor to further discuss employment, according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
The complaint says Waterman arrived at the local convenience store where the two agreed to meet up that day and instructed Bush to get into her truck.
It would be the last time Bush was ever seen alive.
Prosecutors believe that Waterman murdered Bush while driving back to Missouri that day. An autopsy indicated that Bush died as a result of penetrating trauma of the torso and her death was classified as a homicide.
After killing the mother, Waterman proceeded to remove both the unborn baby and Bush's placenta, according to the complaint.
Waterman then placed both the fetus and placenta in her pants and called 911 at around 5 p.m. that same day, claiming to first responders that she had given birth in her truck while driving to the hospital and the child was not breathing, according to the complaint.
McDonald County Sheriff Robert Everson said that paramedics intercepted Waterman and her husband as they drove to the hospital but they were unable to revive the child.
In court this week, Waterman admitted that the child "died in utero, as a result of [the] kidnapping that resulted in the death of Bush."
Waterman and her husband then proceeded to make funeral arrangements for the child, according to Everson, but things took a turn immediately after the service when a DNA sample was collected from the baby.
Deputies obtained a search warrant for the Waterman residence on November 3, and soon found blood in Waterman's car, according to an affidavit of probable cause. When asked to explain why there was blood in the vehicle, Waterman told investigators that Bush had been murdered in the car by "Lucy," the fake name she had used on Facebook.
Waterman then said that after killing the woman, she informed her husband, who burned the body in a fire pit and disposed of the remains, according to the complaint.
Joshua Willis, the victim's fiancé who dropped her off at the convenience store on the day she was abducted, was able to confirm that Waterman was the woman who had met with Bush in Arkansas, according to the complaint.
Waterman's husband, Jamie, is also charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to kidnapping resulting in death. He has entered a plea of not guilty to that charge and his lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Waterman is now subject to a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison without parole on each count. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 15.
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